Scary or Dangerous?

December 25, 2017

We got our white Christmas! Lake effect snow has blanketed our area a foot deep, even in our sheltered yard. The forecast for the next few days predicts more of the same, so I think I’ll be spending plenty of time on the tractor. Son Matt and daughter in law Jeanine have loaded their two kids in the car and are on their way to Florida to spend the week with close friends who used to live across the street from them. An 18 hour drive that begins at night in lake effect snow makes us a bit nervous, but we remember taking the same kinds of trips when we lived in Chicago and wanted to get home for Christmas. On one of those trips, we actually thought we were going to die. 

We were driving through Ohio in the middle of the night in a raging blizzard. We couldn’t even see where the highway was except by following a snowplow. Halfway through the state, our headlights started to go dim. We shut down the heater fan, even dimming the instrument panel, but our headlights finally gave out altogether. Fortunately, the boys were bundled in sleeping bags in the back of that old station wagon, and we were following that plow, but it was a good many miles later before we came to a service area. As late as it was, there was no mechanic on duty, but the attendant let us pull into the service bay, where he proceeded to lift the hood and check what he could. Turns out, it was a loose battery cable. He cleaned and tightened it, and we were on our way. Visibility was poor, but we did make it. I’m guessing that our folks worried about us the same way we worry about our kids.

The other day I was listening on NPR to the gentleman who founded the Sam Adams brewery talking about how he got into the brewing business. He had been a successful CEO of a company, but wasn’t happy. So he quit his job to start doing what he thought would make him happy. He said something quite profound: “There is a difference between scary and dangerous. Some things are scary, but not dangerous; some things are dangerous, but not scary.” Him quitting his job was scary, but staying he believed would be dangerous, because he would someday come to the end of his life and feel it had been wasted.

That distinction between scary and dangerous is significant. So often we allow our fears to determine the course of our lives, which is a dangerous thing to do. We are scared to step out in faith, to quit that job, to interview for the job we really want. A young man is scared to ask her for a date; she is afraid to leave home, or to walk away from an abusive relationship. But sometimes that which we fear is less dangerous than playing it safe. 

I’ve listened to people who are scared of our president. He is unpredictable, crude, and brash. These people don’t like his policies or his style. They think he is dangerous. He may be, but so may be that politician who is suave, articulate, urbane, and un-scary. Being able to distinguish between those people and situations that are scary and those that are actually dangerous is an important talent. I am thankful tonight that the Gospel message is, as the angels said that first Christmas night, “fear not!” The world was a dangerous place for the Christ Child, but the message was, “fear not!” In the midst of danger, we have a God who has conquered the greatest danger of all—death. God Himself is for us, so who can be against us? Whoever or whatever is against us is no match for our God and Savior. We can face danger boldly...and thankfully.